TUC week
by El Cerdo Solitario
Summary: Tuc Week. Also on AO3 and Tumblr under Sometimesmybraindoesntwork
1. Day 1- Chosen One

**It's officially Day 1 of The Underland Chronicles week! Here's the first one, the theme for today is Chosen One. It's a Soulmate Au with the marks trope. **

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Day 1 - Chosen One

Ever since Gregor could remember, he had always been told that everyone had a soulmate. Someone who you would love forever, unconditionally, and who would love you just as much. He had been told that when one person gets injured or any skin blemishes that it would show on their soulmate's skin.

He had been absolutely terrified when his first mark appeared when he was only 5 years old, a small scratch on his back. Over the years, his collection of scars only grew, he had such strange-looking marks that some of the kids in his class looked at him strangely. He received one particularly bad mark when he was nine, a nasty cut from his temple to his chin after his dad had disappeared to who knows where.

Luxa had grown up knowing that no matter what happened, the chances of her being able to court her soulmate were little to none. She was still excited when she got her first mark, a simple scrape on the knee and a scar on her lip.

Whenever she felt lonely or sad she would always look and see if there were any new marks, it always cheered her up knowing that there was someone out there. When her parents died she felt so miserable that not even the new cut on her hand could make her feel better. The scar running across her face hurt so much and she felt bad for the person who had gotten it for no reason.

When Gregor had first met Luxa he thought she was beyond stubborn and arrogant, yes, but he couldn't help noticing the way her hair shimmered in the torchlight and he got this feeling in his chest. _Probably just anxiousness_. He thought.

As the quest went on he kept noticing little nicks and cuts which he was sure he had seen somewhere before. Before long they had found his dad and all other thoughts had been pushed from his mind, he had gone back up to the Overland with a weird feeling in his chest.

It had only been a month or so before Luxa sneaked out to join the second quest. She still felt weird around Gregor, and that scar on his face, it looked so familiar, it looked so similar to the one she had gotten from a gnawer two years ago. Then the squid had attacked and only seconds after Gregor had been pulled into the water she noticed the angry red sucker rings on her arms.

Even though they both thought that the other was their soulmate, it still took a war, a prophecy and knowing that very soon Gregor would not be around much longer to get them to admit it. Ripred had given them 30 minutes until they had to be at the wall, 30 minutes until Gregor would be sent to his death. He had wanted no, needed to talk to her, so he had dragged her to the museum.

"Luxa I, there's something I need to tell you. Before it's too late" He was nervous and honestly extremely terrified. "I, uh, I don't know if you know what I'm talking about but in the Overland, we have things called soulmates" God he was so nervous.

"We have soulmates here too, Gregor, but it works very differently for me" She hoped this wasn't just some random talk about the Overland and that Gregor actually had a reason for discussing the topic.

"Okay good, um, I uh, well, Luxa I, I think, Ithinkyou'remysoulmate" The last part came out as one big word, he wasn't surprised when Luxa looked extremely confused.

"Gregor, I cannot hear anything you are saying" She crossed her arms. "Speak up now or I will go to the wall early and leave you behind"

He knew she was joking, slightly, but any mention as to what lay ahead was a bit of a touchy subject.

"I think, and please don't laugh at me if I'm wrong because I don't think I can take that kind of humiliation, I think you're my… You know… Soul, mate" His head was in his hands and his face had flushed a deep pink. But as he spared a look up he was surprised to see a smile on Luxa's face, albeit it was shy and a little bit awkward.

"Gregor hold out your arm. Do not look at me like that, do it" Slowly he rolled up his sleeve and gently placed his arm next to hers.

They matched.

Every single scar, every freckle, spot and scratch was identical.

_He barely had to turn his head when they kissed…_


	2. Day 2- Preconceptions

**Time for day two of TUC Week. Thanks for leaving comments and favouriting the other chapter, it really means a lot. Today the theme is Preconceptions. It was _so hard _to come up with an idea for this so sorry if it's bad.**

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Day 2- Preconceptions

Twitchtip had always been the odd one out. Ever since the gnawers had discovered that she was a scent seer and could even smell what colour something was, they had thought she would be extremely helpful to the ongoing battle with the humans. However, when they discovered that she could smell more than just their feelings, that she could smell their secrets, they hated her. She had been scratched and almost killed whenever she was around other gnawers, so she spent the majority of her time alone.

When Twitchtip was alone she didn't have to deal with the hatred and prejudice against her. Also, the stench of blood and disease that was always around them was barely there. Because she had such a delicate nose Twitchtip couldn't stand being so dirty all the time, it reeked of awful smelling things when she went too long without cleaning herself.

So she lived like this, alone, shunned, hated in the deadlands, as close to the gnawers land as she could. Until an old legend, one who the gnawers had thought dead, reappeared. Ripred had found her, scratched, tormented and starving, and took her to where his friends were. He gave her food and water and lavender smelling cloth to cover her nose for when the stench got too bad. All in all, she was doing not okay but just enough, until Ripred mentioned the prophecy of bane. Twitchtip knew that the humans would shun her just like the gnawers did, but if she helped the warrior find the bane then she would be allowed to live with him.

When the gnawers had found her after Gregor and Ares left, she wished for nothing more than for them to kill her. Although her nose was damaged they still acted as if she was the dirt upon their paws. They tossed her into a pit and let her rot. Then finally, after what felt like twenty years, but was really less than one, she had gone. Her spirit disappeared from her body and for once in her miserable, depressing life. She was free.


	3. Day 3- What's Your Plan?

**Day 3, about two days late but you know, I was woefully unprepared for this week. here we go**

Gregor was definitely panicking now. 10 minutes ago, his youngest sister, boots, now maggie, had been right beside him. He had turned away for 10 seconds max to see if he had enough money to buy ice cream, and when he turned back, she was gone. He looked all around the fairgrounds but with all the young children and general noise, it was hard to pinpoint her location. Gregor saw a flash of pink sandals to his left, accompanied by a loud giggle, but when he turned it was just some random kid. A voice, rough and deep, drifted into his brain. At first, he thought it was someone at the fair, but there was no mistaking that voice, it brought back memories of a beautiful city, each building carved with its history, along with screams of terror, blood gurgling from recently deceased bodies. Ripred's voice sprang through his mind. _What's your plan?_ Right. He needed a plan. Running around looking for boots-_Maggie_ wasn't going to help anyone. Maybe he could go to the information centre, have them look out for her, maybe even help him search. He could try and think where she could be.

The ducks! They had gone past the duck pond only a few minutes ago, he hadn't wanted Maggie to get all wet in the middle of the day so he told her they could come back later. Maybe she had gotten impatient and ran off. It was worth a shot. Gregor quickly sprinted over to where he remembered it to be and-

"Gregor, look! Look at the baby ducklings, they're so cute!" He let out a breath of air, closed the gap between them and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, little girl" He checked her head for any injuries and when she squirmed away he only said, "Sorry, force of habit" and it was a force of habit. The Underland did that to you, to him.

"How about you and I go get some ice cream and then we head home. Sound good?" They'd both had enough excitement for the day.

"Yep! Can I tell Lizzie about the duckies when we get home?" The six-year-old was still very excited.

"I'm sure she'd love to hear all about them" He wrapped a protective arm around her and ordered two single scoops of hokey-pokey. _Just like that stupid dance_. He thought.


	4. Day 4- Regret

**Day 4, I know I'm late and that the other one was late as well but here we go. Gregor dies in the Regalian hospital after his final fight with the Bane. Ares survives. **

Ares.

He couldn't breathe. His lungs weren't working and he couldn't get enough oxygen to his brain. The softly lit room around him started to fade and big, angry black spots covered his eyes. The ground fell away beneath his feet and landed back in a dark cave. The stench of rotting flesh overwhelmed him. Then, on the ground barely a few feet away from him, lay a small lifeless body. Its skin was paler than it should've been and scars crisscrossing across his entire body. None of that stood in comparison to the five, sill open, dark red wounds across his heart. Ares couldn't take it. He could feel tears running through his fur. Slowly, but surely, the room he was in started to come back to him, he could see Luxa in front of his face, her lips were moving but he couldn't hear anything she was saying. An angry wave of regret swam over his mind, leaving him shedding even more tears than before. He had led Gregor into that battle, knowing the odds were stacked against him. He could've flown faster back to regalia. He could've helped him fight the Bane. But he hadn't. He had let Gregor Campbell die.

Howard.

It had only been a few hours since that much too young boy had been brought to Regalia. And yet his hands were still covered in his blood, no matter how hard he scrubbed and cleaned. No matter how rough and calloused it made his hands, he couldn't get it off. They were shaking now, he realised as he stared down at his arms. Why had they let him perform on Gregor, he was not ready, he was not as trained like the others. _They wouldn't have killed him_. It was only a matter of time before he either passed out or had a panic attack. The former came sooner and his head hit the cool stone of the hospital, dreams of blood, gore and a giant white rat came into view.

Luxa.

The war was over, Luxa knew that. But sometimes, like right now, it felt like demons were ripping at her flesh, over and over again. Everyone around her seemed fine, cheerful even, they had moved on. She hadn't. And that was the problem, it's hard to deal with a great loss even with family and friends supporting you and understanding you. It's about a million times harder with practically no one. Howard, Aurora, Vikus, they had mourned but they had moved on, she really only had Ares, who knew exactly what she was feeling. But Ares couldn't be there all the time, she had to learn to deal with it on her own. If only she could talk to Gregor's family, maybe they could help each other heal. But she knew that was a fantasy, it could never happen. Luxa could dream though, and she would.


	5. Day 5- Time

**Time for round 5. I'm actually kind of pleased with the way this came out, I didn't have a plan and just let my brain run free. Only two more days to go and then it's over. Sad. I also have to go back to school after this so that's fun.**

Time had not been kind to Gregor. His year-long stay in the Underland had affected him greatly, both physically and mentally, leaving scars all over his figure and plaguing every sleeping minute with nightmares. But that was years ago, four years, eight months and thirteen days ago to be precise. Now, he had grown used to the odd looks when he wore long shirts and track pants in the summer, used to the terrors that woke him almost every night, leaving him drenched in sweat. That didn't mean it made it any easier whenever Maggie accidentally said crawler instead of cockroach, or when he nearly lost control after Lizzie came home with a big fresh bruise on her face.

After they had made the move to Virginia, Gregor had been given his own room, an entire floor really, his room was the attic at the top of the house, as close as he could get to the stars without leaving the atmosphere. It had been decorated before he got there and it hadn't changed much in the years he had lived there, but on the first night, he noticed a tiny detail he never would have at day, when it was loud and bright. A soft _tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, _infiltrated his brain, a clock that was hanging on the wall. He tried to push the sound away but each tick seemed to be getting louder until the sounds of crickets and soft footsteps from his parents' room faded away and all that he could hear was a booming _Tick, Tick, Tick._ He quickly got out of bed, disorientated by the loudness of it all, and tried to cross the room to where the clock was hanging on the wall.

Stumbling around he finally managed to grab it off the hook and turn it over, Gregor tried to open the back to take out the batteries but he didn't have a screwdriver and in this state, he probably couldn't keep his hands steady enough to use it. He decided to try and break it, by throwing it a bit harder than necessary against the wall. In one hit the clock smashed, bits of plastic and glass flew through the air. But the ticking continued, in his mind, he could hear the words he had come to associate with the constant beat of a clock.

_The war has been declared,_

_Your ally been ensnared._

_It is now or it is never._

_Break the code or die forever._

No, he couldn't keep reliving these words.

_To the warrior give my blade._

_By his hand your fate is made._

Sandwich's sword, that damn sword had caused so much death.

_Since the princess is the key_

_To unlock the treachery,_

Lizzie, poor Lizzie, she had been trapped in this war just like so many others. He tried to clap his hands over his ears, nearly screaming to keep the next words out of his head.

_When the monster's blood is spilled,_

_When the warrior has been killed,_

He couldn't stop the violent sobs that escaped his lips, tears streaming down his cheeks. That prophecy depicted so much death, so much hurt and pain and sorrow. Sure, Gregor may not be dead, but his soul was. It had been torn and burned and left him to deal with the consequences. He was crying so hard his entire body was shaking, slowly sinking to the floor Gregor curled into a tight ball and sobbed.

That night had shaken him badly, every click or tap had nearly set him off. It had been hell going back to school after that, each classroom tick tick ticking away, tormenting his already broken mind. After every school day, it took so much effort just to loosen up and calm down, meaning that by the time he started his homework, it was already dinner time. It was so exhausting having to stay focused ninety percent of the day, the only time he really got to relax was when he was drifting off to sleep.


	6. Day 6- Light

**Day 6 babies! Ok I'll keep this short but I just want to say, thank you to everyone to favourited and commented on this story, I really appreciate it! Hope you** enjoy!

"Ripred this is pointless, I do not see how this is necessary" Luxa's annoyed voice sounded through the dark gloom of the tunnel. She had been dragged down under the city by Ripred to try and learn echolocation two hours ago and had made absolutely no progress. Now she understood why Gregor kept complaining about his lessons with him, it was a sick form of torture. She clicked and listened to the sound of it bouncing around and pointed her sword to where she thought he was. A voice from behind growled at her.

"Wrong. Again. Try harder princess" Ripred poked her neck with his tail and went to lie in a different spot.

"I **am** trying you lazy rat, in case you forgot, I cannot see anything" They finished the lesson thirty minutes later and Luxa was very happy to see that they were just in time for dinner. Ripred could probably smell the food from the tunnel.

The next time she had a lesson was with Gregor, they had the same amount of success from the previous lesson. And although she wasn't being poked and made fun of every second, it was still extremely frustrating, having to try and tag Gregor as he wove in and out of her range, gently tapping her on the shoulder, leg and wrist. It finished after only an hour as Luxa was tired of practising.

"You know, when I was learning it, Lizzie made me practice every day, just standing in my room clicking for hours, at the time it felt useless and stupid, but that's what made me learn it in only a few months," Gregor said as they were walking back into the city. She shoved his shoulder slightly.

"Yes, but you went nearly a week without light" she retorted.

"Your point being?" He smirked and lightly shoved her back.

The lessons continued once or twice a week for almost six months before Luxa finally made progress. She was trying to place the tip of her sword on the marks on the cave wall, clicking as she did. She was close to giving up and calling it a day when she clicked once more and a shaky, slightly blurry image came into her head, she clicked again and the image came back.

Slowly she placed the tip of her sword on the cavern wall, right in the middle of the mark.

"Either that was extreme luck or you just learnt the basics of echolocation" Ripred's snarky voice came from her right. She could 'see' him now. Sure it was just the basic figure, snout, limbs, torso, tail, but it was a start.

Ripred let her go, after getting her to spar with him. It didn't work, she got the flesh but not in any places where it would've been major. After another half an hour Luxa managed to tag him just above where his heart would be.

That was all a year ago. Now Luxa could see better in the dark than she could in the light. She and Gregor had gone on many adventures together, discovering new places in the jungle and little caves along the waterway, where the rushing water sounded like a lullaby. One time, they found a tiny tunnel that led into a massive cave where the gems on the room shone like Overland stars. Then she had to be rushed away to her _queenly duties_ as Gregor had so kindly dubbed it.

Who needs light when you get along just fine without.


End file.
